Rhodes Shaper!!!!

[lazylathe]

woohoo1 WOOOOHOOOOOO! woohoo1

I am going to pick up a shaper tonight!!!!! ;D :big:
Here are some pics of it from the seller

And the slotter head

Here is a link to it on lathes.co.uk:
http://www.lathes.co.uk/rhodes/

And the sellers description:
For sale is a Rhodes shaper, estimated date of manufacture is 1922. This shaper is a rare machine, was only used to do model engineering work cutting key ways for live steam engines. The slotter has the original tool holder. It is 120 VAC at 1 hp. I have a reproduction of the manual that goes with the machine.

Not sure what else he has but i may come home with more!!! :big:
Sounds like his father might have been a machinist so there may be some interesting stories too!!

Will keep you updated!!!

Andrew

 

[cfellows]

Very nice! You should have a lot of fun with that.

Chuck

 

[Deanofid]

What a nice looking machine. Talk about the perfect size for a home shop! Gosh, I'm kinda (a lot) jealous.

 

[kcmillin]

Gosh, I'm kinda (a lot) jealous.

Ditto!

Kel

 

[f350ca]

Very nice. The slotter attachment looks neat. My Logan shaper gets used as a slotter quite a bit cutting internal keyways. Wonder how long it would take to set up though, looks like the ram comes off then replaced on the slotter attachment. The table looks different than the link, bigger, is it a plate bolted on? Looks like a real heavy clapper box, mine is too small to make the distinctive sound as it strokes.
Cool find.
Greg

 

[ProdEng]

Watching a shaper work is great stress relief, maybe you could shoot a video when you have it installed?

 

[steamer]

Oh Andrew! With the shaper head!.....ya know this is supposed to be a family oriented forum and there you go putting that thing here and getting everybody all hot and bothered!


;D

I'm telling ya .....DON"T give me your address!

Dave
.....good score buddy!

 

[Maryak]

Despite my attempts at being suave, sophisticated, elegant and totally in touch with my inner self ??? ??? ??? all I can say is


Why not me

Why not me

Why not me.

Tool envy is a serious disease and so in the interest of a cure...............

When do you ship it to me?

Best Regards
Bob

 

[Don1966]

Dog gone Andrew you hit the lottery or something, you have us all drewling ??? ,What a great find, you should have a lot of fun with it.

Don

 

[steamer]

Ok ...I've finally stopped crying....I felt much better after I got a cookie...

Dave

 

[lazylathe]

Lol!!!!

Well all 650 pounds of the shaper was brought down into
the basement last night! I had no help do it took a while...

It is reassembled and everything works!
A few small issues here and there but you cannot expect
perfection in an almost 100 year old machine!

I was lucky enough to get copies of original communications
between the company that bought the shaper and the Rhodes
company!! Very cool!!!

I tried to put up some pics last night but my pc was not
cooperating...
A lot of the surfaces still have the original scraping marks!!!
I am starting to like this machine a lot!!

Will pic up some mounting bolts and get a video of it
running soon!!

Andrew

 

[lazylathe]

Well here are some teasers!!!!

+-200 pounds of cast iron at the top of the basement stairs!

And down after a bit of a struggle...

A pic of the large dovetail face.
Still has almost all of the original scraping and flaking!!!!

They also scraped and flaked the gib covers!!!

Will take some more soon as well as a video!!

Andrew

 

[lazylathe]

Found this one for sale on flea bay...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-7-M...ultDomain_0&hash=item2ebd51c2f5#ht_500wt_1180

Andrew

 

[lazylathe]

Okay!
Here are the rest of the pictures!!!
If you want detailed shots of any part, let me know!

The Rhodes Shaper:

Original tag:

Left hand side:

Inside view:

Table crossfeed mechanism:

Right hand side:

Pulley system:

Belt adjustment mechanism:

Zero adjustable dials on all feeds:

Small crack in eccentric:

Original shaper head:

And the first chips!!
Just using a drill press vise for now, will most likely use the small palmgren on it.

Video soon!!!

Andrew

 

[lazylathe]

And the video as promised!!

[ame]http://youtu.be/2frj1RoNbf8[/ame]

Andrew

 

[rhitee93]

Aww, now that is just tooooo cool! I'd be making chips just to listen to and watch that run!

 

[johnmcc69]

Thats awesome!! What a beautiful machine.
They don't make 'em like that anymore. Nice score.
:bow:

 

[Don1966]

That is one smooth running machine Andrew I am sure you will get a lot of use for your new aquazition.


Don

 

[steamer]

Rotation!

Andrew, the shaper is turning in the wrong direction. That will put a undue amount of strain on the crank

You need to reverse the motor rotation

The crank block should be near the ram during the cutting stroke.

And near the bottom during the return stroke....during the return stroke, the feed is put on.....you should check that.

Dave

 

[Mosey]

I Want a shaper!
Don't you love the OSHA belt guards?
Can you clear the driveway snow with one of these?